Rio

"Excellent"

Rio Review


A lively South American beat infuses this colourful animated romp. The filmmakers make the most of the characters and settings without ever trying to teach us a lesson or make us cry. It's just great fun.

Blu (voiced by Eisenberg) is a blue macaw raised in Minnesota alongside a little girl Linda (Mann). Years later, bird-rescuer Tulio (Santoro) wants to take Blu back to Rio de Janeiro so he can mate with the last remaining female of the species, Jewel (Hathaway). But in Brazil, the courtship between Blu and Jewel gets off to a rocky start, not least because Blu never learned how to fly. And when smugglers steal them, they need a variety of locals (including Lopez, Morgan, Foxx and Will.i.am) to help them escape from a menacing cockatoo (Clement).

The fast-paced story is both action-packed and very funny, with never a dull moment as the script combines thrills, comedy and romance. It's not hugely complicated, but the approach is fresh enough to keep us on our toes, and the characters are so engaging that we never want it to reach its predictable conclusion. Most enjoyable is the way the film really captures the spirit of Brazil; even the villains have a disarming charm about them as they obsess about football and go crazy for Carnival.

The animators flood the screen with bright colours and lively characters, including some exhilarating aerial sequences above Rio that really take advantage of the 3D, as do the madcap action scenes. The beach, favela and rainforest are each rendered with attention to detail. But none of this would be nearly as entertaining if the characters weren't so strong. And wonderfully attitude-filled voice work helps keeps us laughing.

Rhymer adds the same raucous inventiveness here as he did in Surf's Up, and whole film also feels tighter and smarter than Saldanha's three Ice Age movies.

It's refreshing to have a movie like this that just aims to entertain us, leaving the moralising and sentiment just out of view (it's there if you need it) and letting the characters have enough spark that we enjoy spending time in their company. And we hope they'll be back for more adventures too.



Rio

Facts and Figures

Genre: Animation

Run time: 96 mins

In Theaters: Friday 15th April 2011

Box Office USA: $143.6M

Box Office Worldwide: $471M

Budget: $90M

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Production compaines: Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Fresh: 104 Rotten: 41

IMDB: 7.0 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: Bruce Anderson, John C. Donkin

Starring: as Blu (voice), as Jewel (voice), as Linda (voice), as Alice/Goose (voice), as Pedro (voice), as Chloe/Goose (voice), as Rafael (voice), as Nico (voice), as Tulio (voice), as Nigel (voice), as Fernando (voice), as Luiz (voice), as Marcel (voice)

Also starring: ,

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews